Arthur Arkush: Bears' Pace takes chances on injured players

By Arthur ArkushPro Football Weekly

Wednesday

Mar 6, 2019 at 9:39 PMMar 6, 2019 at 9:39 PM

One of the true constants during Ryan Pace's time as Bears general manager has been his willingness — eagerness, even — to take chances on players rehabbing injuries — or with checkered medical backgrounds — who can be found on discounts.

Eddie Jackson might be Pace's best draft pick in his first four years; a universally feared playmaker on defense who was only available at No. 112 because he was coming off a broken leg and previously tore his ACL at Alabama.

Allen Robinson signed for $6 million less than fellow injury risk Sammy Watkins last year because he played only three snaps in 2017 before tearing his ACL and wasn't full-go until camp in his first Bears offseason. Bears fans got a glimpse in the wild-card round of what they should expect routinely from A-Rob in Year 2.

James Daniels likely would have been drafted in Round 1 alongside fellow interior blockers Billy Price and Frank Ragnow, if not for worries about an arthritic knee condition. Daniels exceeded expectations as a 21-year-old starting left guard after mostly playing center at Iowa.

Of course, no one bats 1.000, period, much less when targeting players who inherently carry greater risk, and Pace has been burned with this approach, too, by the likes of Pernell McPhee and Markus Wheaton, to name a couple. Thus, it's important to strike the proper balance, not loading up on constant cold tub inhabitants, especially with the franchise coming off its most successful and healthiest (these aren't mutually exclusive) season in years.

Yet in his first offseason in Chicago with precious few resources, Pace's affinity for attempting to procure greater value by taking players whose injuries might deter other clubs could loom especially large. So we've identified four free agents who play positions of relative need for the Bears and have an injury or durability concern likely to influence their market.

Titans safety Johnathan Cyprien

A cheaper alternative to Adrian Amos with a similar enforcer's mentality, Cyprien recorded 100-plus tackles in his first four seasons in the NFL after the Jaguars selected him with the first pick in round 2 of the 2013 draft. He parlayed that production into a four-year, $25 million deal with the Titans but missed six games in 2017 with a hamstring injury and all of last season following a non-contact left ACL tear in training camp. Cyprien will be 29 this summer and is unlikely to command the multi-year offers of Amos, but he's a similar player.

Chargers CB Jason Verrett

If it wasn't for bad luck with injuries, the Chargers' former first-round Pro Bowler would have no luck at all. He's appeared in only 25 games over five seasons, and only one in the past two, when he endured a torn ACL and ruptured Achilles. Still, Verrett has flashed lock-down cover ability on the perimeter and in the slot, and he'll only be 28 in June. Granted, it might not make sense to replace one dynamic but diminutive nickel with myriad injury concerns (Bryce Callahan) with another in Verrett, but there's really no comparing their pedigrees, and Verrett will cost less.

Broncos OLB Shane Ray

Another former first-rounder who fell on hard times in the AFC West following a fabulous NFL start, Ray was limited to 19 combined games and only two sacks over the past two seasons, when he battled a surgically repaired wrist and Denver's incompetent coaching. That rut was preceded by 12 sacks in his first two seasons as the menace opposite Von Miller. Ray's get-off, play strength and energy would be a great addition behind Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd, and it'll be interesting to see how Vic Fangio weighs Ray's assets vs. not only fellow Broncos free agent Shaq Barrett but Aaron Lynch, with whom he's the most familiar.

Chiefs RB Spencer Ware

It feels like an eternity, but it's actually been only a year and a half since Ware, not Kareem Hunt, was tabbed by Andy Reid and Matt Nagy as the featured replacement for Jamaal Charles. Ware was coming off a 2016 campaign in which he caught 33 passes for a 13.5-yard average and carried it 214 times at 4.3 yards a pop across 14 starts when he tore his MCL/PCL in the '17 preseason. That opened the door for the then-rookie Hunt to lead the NFL in rushing. Following Hunt's abrupt release last year, Ware was the first man out of the backfield chute and showed some of the same pre-knee injury juice and versatility before suffering a hamstring injury. Damien Williams took the baton and never gave it back, but Ware is still 27, with Jordan Howard's size but something closer to Hunt's receiving skills. We saw Nagy lean on his former Chiefs pupils last year, including Bryan Witzmann and Josh Bellamy, and the cost to see what Ware has left would be negligible.

Arthur Arkush is managing editor for Pro Football Weekly.

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